St. Bonifacius, Minn. - The past two meetings between Crown and the University of Minnesota Morris both went into overtime as the teams split. Crown won last year's game on
Kurt Fickle's overtime field goal. This year would be a repeat in many ways as the game came down to the wire, but Crown prevailed in regulation this time, winning 30-27.
Crown jumped out to an early lead after a Morris three and out as
Matt Michaud broke loose for a 65 yard touchdown run to put Crown up 7-0. Morris responded with a touchdown pass to even the score. Crown would strike again two more times in the half to take a 21-7 lead as freshman quarterback
Ryan Synoground had a hand in both touchdowns. Morris would answer again however with a 60 yard touchdown pass before Crown used the last 50 seconds of the half to march down the field, setting up a
Chad Anenson 31 yard field goal. Crown led 24-14 at the half.
The second half was about as ugly as it could get for the Crown offense as they fumbled on three consecutive drives, one leading to a Morris touchdown. The home team found themselves down 27-24 in the fourth before embarking on a 13 play, 62 yard drive to win the game, converting two fourth downs on the way. Michaud had a three yard run on fourth and one from midfield and later in the drive Synoground threw a bullet to
Ethan Keller for a 15 yard gain on fourth and five. Crown's defense held down the stretch and Crown won 30-27.
Crown was led on offense by Michaud, who piled up 163 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries as Synoground chipped in 140 of his own on the ground. As a team, Crown had 334 yards rushing; a testament to a solid team effort blocking. Synoground went 12-20 for 147 yards and a touchdown to
Ben Olson in the air in his first collegiate start.
Defensively, Crown was led by
Jalen Phoenix who had a monster game with six tackles including four tackles for loss and two sacks.
Eli Dahl had four tackles including a huge solo stop on a second down play to set up Crown's final defensive stand.
Elliot Wiens had four tackles and an interception as well.
Crown will travel to MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois next Saturday for another UMAC game.
